Researchers succeeded in detecting methane on Mars which is considered as an indicator for potential microbial life on the Red Planet. In 2013, the Mars Express spacecraft detected methane near Gale Crater on Mars. On Monday, scientists published their findings about the first independent confirmation about methane on Mars in the Nature Geoscience journal. This finding provides independent confirmation of debated measurements obtained by the Curiosity rover one day earlier. Methane was discovered in the Martian atmosphere more than a decade ago, and was thought to have been produced biologically by microorganisms or by abiotic geochemical reactions. However, the potential mechanisms for its generation as well as the reliability of existing detections have been the subject of vigorous debate. Marco Giuranna, a researcher in the Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica and the first author of the study, told Daily News Egypt that methane is important because it could be an indicator of microbial life. On Earth, methanogenic microbes produce methane. But even if methanogenic forms of life have not developed on Mars, methane can be produced by abiotic processes that are likely on the Red Planet. That methane, though not a direct bio-signature of life, can add to the habitability of Martian settings, as certain types of microbes can use methane as a source of carbon and energy. Beyond its relevance to potential life on Mars, methane trapped in the Martian subsurface may also constitute a resource for future human activities on Mars, as methane has been discussed as a propellant for return to Earth needs and as a fuel and a chemical/industrial feedstock that could support a sustained human presence, according to Giuranna. "Prior to our study, methane detections on Mars, being either in situ, from orbit, or from Earth-based telescopes, were not confirmed by independent observations. Our finding constitutes the first independent confirmation of a methane detection," Giuranna said. Contuined in page 2